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The King of Fighters XIII is the thirteenth installment in The King of Fighters series and the final chapter of "Tales of Ash" Saga, started in The King of Fighters 2003. The theme for this title is "KOF-ism" or getting back to the heart of the series. The main objective of the game's new features is to appeal to the audience that prefers quick combos.

Mobile versions of the game were released on July 7, 2011 and a downloadable application for social networks was released on October 17, 2011. Additionally, an iOS version of the game, titled The King of Fighters-i-, feauring a reduced character roster, was released on July 7, 2011; an update of this version that includes six more characters was released on September 8, 2011. This same version was later ported to the Android platform on March 22, 2012, as The King of Fighters Android. An updated version featuring 12 new characters and other modes was released on iOS-based devices on May 3, 2012, called The King of Fighters-i 2012. This same version was released on Android on September 3, 2013 as The King of Fighters-A 2012.

A new version of the game, including the characters introduced on the console ports as well as new revisions, was released in Japanese arcades on April 26, 2012, under the name The King of Fighters XIII Climax.

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Magaki was slain by Shion's spear, and Shion vanished into the dimensional rift. Then other members of the group Heidern was tracking suddenly appeared and vanished, as if to mock Heidern and his team. Who are "Those From the Distant Land," and why are they so persistent in their pursuit of the power of Orochi?

Yata was defeated, and Yasakani has fallen. Only one of the Three Sacred Treasures remains: the Sword of Kusanagi. However, Kyo Kusanagi suffered a major injury at the hands of Yagami, who had been overtaken by the power of the revitalized Orochi.

Time has passed...

With these recent incidents, it was feared that the next King of Fighters tournament would never happen. However, thanks to an unheard-of amount of promotion by a mysterious party, the KoF will be held on an unprecedented scale. The new mixed martial arts tournament is on the world stage, and the mass media has been giving it coverage like never before.

Fighters all across the world begin to receive invitations... all sent from "R"!

Special moves now have "EX" versions that require a stock of super meter, functioning similarly to Darkstalkers or Street Fighter III. You can also EX supers for two stocks, reviving the Max Desperations of older KOFs. EX attacks can perform tasks such as adding invincibility, boosting attack speed, adding more hits, and other factors.

Some EX moves can play nod to other attacks a character has previously had; for example, K's EX Crow Bites resembles his Heaven's Drive DM from 2003-XI and Neo Geo Battle Coliseum, and EX Iori's EX Oniyaki resembles his Orochi version's Oni Honoo in the vs. Capcom series.

Gameplay of Mai vs. Yuri

A feature called the "Drive Cancel" allows players to unlimitedly cancel their character's moves to their whim. The ability to do so relies on the "Hyper Drive Gauge" that's above the power gauge, gradually draining it as the players cancel their moves.

"Hyper Drive Mode" (abbv. as "HD Mode") is a tricky feature that can only be done once the Hyper Drive Gauge is at maximum. It's possible for players to perform an unlimited amount of Drive Cancels at the precise moment the gauge is filled. Although the effect is short and temporary, the feature allows otherwise unlinkable techniques to be used in one combo. Drive Cancels and Hyper Drive Mode are both callbacks to the systems introduced in The King of Fighters 2002, such as the Free Cancel and the MAX Activation, respectively. The Drive Cancel done outside HD Mode is similar to the Free Cancel done in KOF Neowave (a rebalanced version of 2002 pre-dating Unlimited Match), via the Super Cancel mode (where MAX Activation does not exist).

When a player is in Hyper Drive Mode and has two power stocks available, or in normal state and with three power stocks, they can perform a powerful technique called a "Neo Max Desperation", a revival of the Max 2 Desperations of 2002, Neowave, and 2002 Unlimited Match. Players can also link/cancel into a Neo Max technique during a combo off of a special or even both a normal and EX Desperation, which is dubbed a "Max Cancel". Unlike Max 2s, they can be done at any health level.

Not only does everyone gain a Neo Max, but almost all characters now gain new or regain old attacks left out in KOF XII.

Throw attacks are now back to being back or forward + Hard Punch or Hard Kick like in past games, but more like KOF 2003 and XI (in that all characters only have one throw, and button used determines if they switch sides or not)

The Story Mode returns with a scoring system. When fighting against a CPU opponent, players are challenged to complete a random objective during stages, called Target Actions. Completing these can award bonus points at the scoring screen. Meeting certain actions can also reward players the next round by filling up their power gauge or Hyper Drive Guage. Objectives include goals such as completing a certain amount of hits within one combo, successfully hitting the CPU with a desperation technique (including EX and Neo Max Desperation Moves or specials), or being asked to perform a certain attack within 10 seconds.

A complete story consists of eight stages, six being spent against teams and two being saved for the final matches.

During a fight against a CPU opponent, players can be awarded a big boost of extra points if they end a match with a Regular, EX or Neo Max Desperation Move. It also triggers a special splash screen for their victory blow.

The "zoom" effect seen in The King of Fighters XII has been removed, and general gameplay speed has been improved greatly.

Pre-fight exchanges similar to those in SNK vs Capcom: SVC Chaos are also present in the game. These unique conversations also exist in mirror matches (when two players play with the same character) and they only appear in Single Player mode.

Aside from the regular team music from the game, players can also listen to the characters' themes from previous KOF games, such as "Queen" from KOF XI for Elisabeth and "KDD-0075" from KOF XI for K'.

King and Yuri can have their tops ripped off (as in Art of Fighting, Art of Fighting 2, The King of Fighters '94 and The King of Fighters '95) when K.O.'d by special, EX and Desperation Moves.

When the game designer was asked about his personal thoughts for this new cast in an interview, he remarked that he isn't always looking forward to adding popular characters from other series. As before with KOF XII, the overall goal for the cast is to create contrasts and variations between each character for an interesting balance between teams. Whenever possible, he believes the characters in The King of Fighters should be reenacting a classic fist-to-fist battle rather than one that relies too much on additional weaponry. Lately, the desire to stay true to this theme in an interesting manner has decided who gets to appear in KOF.

Japan Stage: The fight occurs in a ring, with sumo wrestlers in front, with the Miyajima Shrine and the Mount Fuji in the background, besides alegoric cars in the left and in the right.

India Stage: The city of Agra. It's a yellow colored stage, beautifully animated 3D elephants in the immediate background and the Taj Mahal in the distance.

London Stage: 1994 type Britain stage with the Big Ben in the background. The weather starts off foggy, but sun shines by the fourth round. Also can be seen people, guards and the famous britain bus.

Clock Tower Stage: 1994 type Britain stage taking place in a clock tower instead of the city streets. Associated with Billy.

Brazil Stage: The Amazon Forest. This is a lush-green colored jungle stage that was intended to be in The King of Fighters XII. Hard falls cause objects such as fruits or snakes to fall from the trees.

USA Stage: Area above the city of New York, with speakers, monitors, and caution tape scattered around; a red, white, and blue sign reading "THE KING OF FIGHTERS" sits above the fighting area. A cage drops in the background in some rounds, and various floats can be seen in the sky. Also can be seen the Empire State Building.

Sky Noah Stage: An airship floating high above ground, featuring the Bernstein family lounging and doing their business. Multiple terminals and high-tech consoles are strewn across the stage. Stage reminiscent of KOF 2003.

Desert Stage (Ancient Ruins): A simple desert with several boulders and cracked surface. A few hints of ruins from ancient civilization are shown.

Dojo Stage (Kyokugenryu Dojo): A dojo set in a room, holding several Japanese paraphernalia hanging on the walls. There are posters of the Art of Fighting teams, and students in gis are watching the team battle each other. Seen in the background are Marco Rodriguez and the unnamed student seen in his Garou: MOTW ending. Stage reminiscent of Takuma'sAOF 2 stage.

Pao Pao Cafe Stage: A colorful stage with exotic plants and decorations with musicians in the center, with patrons watching over the battle on the left and right behind windows.

Coliseum Rooftop Stage: The fighters are on the roofs of the Rose Stadium, where light is illuminating the center from behind, where fireworks are being shot in the distance. Associated with Ash.

Southtown Stage: A back alley in the depths of the Southtown, where graffiti is plastered across the brick walls, a random hoodlum is sitting by the opening of one of them, and a broken car with damaged windows.

Burnt Remains Stage: A lush meadow with trees in the background, also containing the ruins of a European castle with moss and vine decorated on its walls.

Temple Stage: An eastern temple in Japan, dimly lit by torches planted alongside the structure. It has a memorial site to the left, with unmarked stones.

Abandoned Factory Stage: An abandoned factory reminiscent of the Rival Team's Stage in KOF '95. The sun setting provides light for the background as a smoldering power plant is seen from behind, along with a trash pile and a King of Fighters-labelled truck.

Esaka Stage: A scaffolding connecting to a series of apartment buildings and a train station in Esaka, along with the SNK headquarters in the background. Numerous high school students are cheering on the fight, with a digital billboard promoting the KOF tournament with different fighters. This stage is reminiscent of the Psycho Soldier and Hero Teams stage from KOF '96.

Vessel Room Stage: A room of an evil palace. Can be seen small craters all over the scene, emanating an evil lava, besides two stairs, an energy ball in the center of a hole and a terrace. Similar to Magaki's stage in KOF XI. Associated with Human Saiki.

BOSS STAGE: Rose Stadium Ashed: The coliseum and castles have been warped into a destroyed version, and the ground is covered in what seems to be cooled magma. Occupying the back of the stadium where the screen once was is the Gate. Above the stadium, lighting and swirling clouds rage in a reddish sky due to a stoppage in time. Associated with Awakened Saiki.

BOSS STAGE: Rose Stadium Misted: The entire stage is almost completely white, with vague shadows of the foundation of the Rose Stadium visible as the Gate opens wider. Associated with Evil Ash.